WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:09.359 So a couple of weeks ago, our family was doing what we do several times a week, and that's a little dance party in the evening and our den. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:14.480 And this time we were taking turns, each of us having like a little solo dance. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:31.600 And so our four-year-old runs down the hallway and she gets her a costume on, well, dance costume going, and apparently she had a little routine planned out that she had worked on back there in her bedroom, and then she returns back to the den for her really important show. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:33.280 You know, it was showtime. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:42.560 And sort of right before she started, she did this little kind of diva hair flip, a little J-Lo, little hair flip, and the the we just die laughing. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.280 I mean, the rest of the family, we just die laughing. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:46.640 And not at her, right? 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.840 Like not at her, but because it was just so cute. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.479 I mean, it was just so amazingly cute. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.159 But you know what happened, right? 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:55.439 The damage was done. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:56.960 Like, damage was done. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.600 And so she, you know, this was her American Idol moment, and it's like her tripping on stage. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.039 I mean, it was done. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:11.760 Our laughter crushed her, and she doesn't even start into her dance, and she runs down the hallway and she is wailing all the way down the hallway. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:16.480 And so I walk after her, I give her a minute or two to see if she's come back out, and she doesn't come back out. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.359 So I walk down the hallway and I just hear this wailing. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:25.439 She's in the corner under a chair, under a sheet, just wailing. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:27.280 And a few thoughts came to mind. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:30.959 Number one, what a silly little child. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:38.159 I am I'm so glad I'm more mature than ever behaving like this when I'm embarrassed. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:39.840 I don't want to deal with this. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:40.480 That was number two. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:41.599 I don't want to deal with this. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:43.840 I'd rather go watch a Seinfeld episode. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.040 That was number two. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:48.159 And that was pretty much my two thoughts. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:56.799 And then the third thought was, third thought was, is my little four-year-old is in a corner under a chair, under a sheet, wailing, and so she's there. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:58.159 And so, but why? 00:01:58.319 --> 00:01:59.920 Like, why is she doing this? 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:02.319 Why is this the reaction? 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.480 And by the way, it's a reaction at 4, 14, 40, 84. 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.960 This is this is the usual reaction of all of us. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:10.000 It just looks different. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.120 Well, because she was rejected, right? 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:20.879 She was rejected in the exact moment that she dared to make herself vulnerable. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:22.319 Right? 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:28.639 You make yourself known, and in the exact moment you make yourself known, you're rejected. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:44.560 So I made her climb out of the corner, I made her stand in front of me, and I did what I always do with hysterical four-year-olds, and that is I try to reason through logic about how this is an unreasonable thing she's doing, reaction, unreasonable reaction. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:49.439 And of course, that gets me nowhere very quickly, and so I go watch Seinfeld. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:56.159 No, I didn't, I so I stayed there, and I but I default back because we've been studying this Genesis 1 through 3, and I'm learning a few things. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:00.159 And so I know a few things about my daughter, and I say, you know what? 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:01.360 I said, babe. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.680 Your love in this family has already been declared. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.879 From the very beginning, it's already been declared. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:10.400 You are already loved. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.919 We love you, and we are for you no matter what. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:14.960 You know what? 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:16.800 That still didn't work, but at least I said it. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.400 You know, at least I was the good dad. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:19.919 At least I said it. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:24.080 Now, a month ago, Christy and I were on a double date with some friends. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:39.520 And these friends have a uh a child, a kid, who went into high school and they were telling us a story about how their kid in high school, another kid, had said something to their kid, and I'll spare the story, but what the one kid said to the other kid wasn't a good comment, not a good comment. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:48.000 The kind of comment that you're just not quite sure how you would reply to that, and their kid replied very kindly, like amazingly, like impressive. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:04:03.680 And so then we went around the car sharing how we would have replied to that comment when we were like in ninth grade, and everybody took a turn and it turned to my turn, and I can't repeat what I would say in ninth grade. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:13.680 I truly cannot, because it would have been filled with verbal bombs, like the bombs that are in your head right now, those are the bombs I would have laid out there because I was like that for years. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:14.879 That's how I was like. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:23.839 If you dared, and some of you are like this, if you dared to come against me, I will put you in a corner. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:37.600 I will make you cry under a sheet, and I will slowly, you won't even realize it, I'll be, I'll just be building up ammo, and you don't realize it, just in case there's a day you come against me, and I'll put you in that corner. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:38.319 Right? 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:39.680 Some of you are like that. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.480 Nowadays, I'm so mature nowadays. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.040 I would never do that as a pastor. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:46.160 I would never do it. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:51.120 So nowadays, what I do is I retreat and self-pity and nobody knows it, right? 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:52.000 And some of you do that. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:54.079 Now, some of you, that's how you react. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:54.720 Right? 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:02.000 Either way, either way, it's either some sort of aggression or some sort of like defensiveness tactic. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.120 And the reason why is because we're just going, I don't want to feel that anymore. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:13.680 What that comment was, what that experience was, what it exposed in me, that feeling, I don't want to feel anymore. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:19.120 I'm shutting it down with aggression or defensiveness, but I'll shut it down. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:20.000 Why? 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:20.639 Why? 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.319 Where does that come from? 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.079 We're afraid of the feeling inside of us. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.199 This feeling of inadequacy and failure. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:35.439 We're afraid, that's actually the entire story about us. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:37.439 That's what we're afraid of. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.560 Well, I couldn't get Greta back out. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:42.879 She came out of the bedroom to me at the edge of the bed. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.959 I think she might have gone back into the corner. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.240 That's the four-year-old. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:53.439 And finally she snuck back into the den and she snuggled with Christie, but she wasn't back to normal until the next day, right? 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:54.240 She was stuck. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:55.680 You know that feeling, right? 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.040 When you're just stuck, like you can't, like, have you ever felt like that? 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:06.639 Where you can't get unstuck, you're stuck in this feeling, this feeling of failure, the fear of failure, the fear of shame. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.000 That's what it is. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:11.439 A fear of what they think, or he thinks, or she thinks, or they think. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:12.720 If this happens, what happens? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:14.959 So, how does all this work? 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.839 How does the presence of shame work in us? 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:22.639 Well, Genesis 3 speaks to all of this. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:29.040 As sin enters the world, sin enters the world, and it creates the feeling we know is shame. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.279 See, at the end of Genesis 2, Adam and Eve are created, right? 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:43.120 And it says they're created, it says they were naked, and it says they see each other, they're fully known, fully exposed, all is seen, and they're not ashamed. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.480 That's what the text says. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:45.759 They're not ashamed. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:54.160 So this shows us that God's ideal for us, for us, is to be fully known, fully seen, and unashamed. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:00.879 That we don't have to do any hiding with other people, any covering, any escaping, any performing, any pretending? 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:06.560 And second, it shows us that sin creates shame. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.720 Let me reread a few of these verses, Genesis 3, 1 through 5. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:16.560 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the other beasts of the field that the Lord God had made. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.920 He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of the tree in the garden? 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:33.680 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:45.040 But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.680 So something horrible happens here, right? 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:54.560 They take the bite, they see each other as naked, and all of a sudden all of it is changed. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:01.439 Because no longer do they see each other and feel no shame, now they see each other and they are ashamed. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.240 Their nature is changed, right? 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:06.560 A sinful nature is birthed. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:14.800 And that sinful nature, it pulls us away, constantly pulls us away from who God says you are, and what God says is good and bad. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:17.600 And so they get some fig leaves. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:25.759 Some little temporary fig leaves, and they sew some little fig leaves together, and they cover their private parts, and they begin to do this, right? 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.879 They begin what's still going on today all the time. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:39.039 The operation of our sin, the working of shame in us, which pushes us not to a life in the spirit, which is, hey, you can know me. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.000 You can know me. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.840 I'll confess it, I'll repent it, you can know me, and I'll be free. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:44.960 Life in the spirit. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:59.519 But it pushes us, this sinful nature, to a life in the flesh, which is all about I'll cover, I'll hide, I'll escape, I'll perform, I'll pretend, I'll do anything so you don't know me. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:01.840 So a few points to guide us. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:06.960 Point number one, our shame tells us a false story about ourselves and about our God. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.799 So shame's the feeling that you aren't enough. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:12.240 That's what shame is. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:13.279 You aren't enough. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:16.000 Adam sees Eve, Eve sees Adam, both of them react. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:17.200 They think they're not enough. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:18.639 You gotta go cover. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:38.480 And if anything's evil, if anything is evil, whether you're here in a church house or your house or your daddy's house, I don't know, education, wherever, or work world, whatever house you're in, if anything's evil, it's the idea that you aren't enough and you need to do something about it by your own work. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:40.240 That's evil. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:46.799 Brene Brown, who's a sociology researcher and shame expert, she's been a bunch of New York Times bestsellers at this point. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:48.399 She's an expert on shame. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:49.759 This is her topic. 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:56.960 And she says shame is a place of unworthiness, full of fear, of rejection and disconnection, right? 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:00.240 I mean, you can just you can just hear this in this story in Genesis. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:05.360 Shame is the belief that if I'm really known or seen, I'll be rejected and not belong, right? 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.360 This is why Adam and Eve cover and hide. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:11.679 What if I really am the failure I fear I am? 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:14.480 What if I fail at work? 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:16.240 What if I fail in marriage? 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:17.759 What if I fail with my friends? 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:19.679 What if I fail with that girlfriend or that boyfriend? 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:20.639 What if I fail in that test? 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.840 What if I fail with my college degree? 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:22.879 What if I fail at work? 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.120 What if I fail in front of people? 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.039 What if I don't have answers? 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:29.279 What if I'm weak? 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:33.919 What if I never look like that? 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.960 What if my life never looks like that? 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.879 What if other moms and other women think that about me? 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:46.720 Or about my kids? 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.639 Well, we begin hiding and covering. 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:52.080 And that's point number two. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.559 Hiding and covering is a life of bondage. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:04.799 So my four-year-old's out from under that sheet, the tears are drying up, and she is mad as a hornet, right? 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.440 I ask her, how are you feeling? 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.039 What are you feeling? 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.200 And she says, She says, I'm mad. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:14.159 I'm mad. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:17.679 And if sisters were in that room, she would have pushed them, she would have yelled at them. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.720 There would have been aggression at this point. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:23.679 And none of this is any different than us. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:25.039 I mean, we're just a bit more refined. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:25.919 None of it's any different. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.240 I mean, this week, I felt it this week. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:29.919 I'm at soccer. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.519 One of the older sisters, I know you can't keep track of all of them. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:38.399 One of the older daughters, I'm at soccer this week, and we're getting killed. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.679 I mean, it's a bunch of little girl beckams out there. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.080 They're probably practicing right now in the rain. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.840 I'm pretty sure. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.799 Little nine-year-olds out in the rain on Sunday morning practicing. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:50.240 They gotta be because they're so good. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.720 I mean, it's not possible without that happening. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.080 And we're getting blown off the field, killed. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:59.840 I mean, it's it's a massacre out there, and we're getting killed. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:09.840 And this Joe Blow behind me, every time there's a score, he's letting out that European soccer chant that you hear on ESPN, like 5 at 2 a.m. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:11.039 at some soccer game. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.120 You know, there's 12 people in the United States watching it. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:14.159 Sorry, soccer fans. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:21.440 That's why it's a I I did think of you when I was writing that part of the sermon. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.679 I was gonna talk to you about it afterward. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:27.519 But you know the chant, right? 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:28.480 Somebody. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:29.759 Yeah, you did you say it, Mark? 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:30.240 Or was it you? 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:31.200 And there's Mark or Travis. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.519 One of y'all were gonna get on to me. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:39.440 So he's letting the soccer chant, that little chant, out every time, every time. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:43.360 And at first I'm thinking, what a sweet daddy. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.159 Like, his little girl's doing great. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:48.720 I mean, he is a sweet dad. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.000 And then I start keeping track of who's scoring. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.919 You know, because I'm like that. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.039 It's not his child every time, it's different kids. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:05.840 And then I think, well, maybe his child's one of the good ones, but he's cheering for like other girls who aren't that good who get a score, and he's being real supportive. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.559 But no, it's like all the kids, it's just all of them. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.279 It's every time, it's really loud. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.080 And I'm just going, you know what? 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.399 Like the first 12 scores. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.720 Hey, you're happy, we're for you, it's great. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:22.159 Celebrate. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:28.399 After about 12, 13, it's time to shut your mouth. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.600 We all know the feeling. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.960 We're at a youth soccer game. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.519 And it takes all the pastoral presence in me to stay seated. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.440 And all of this is at a youth soccer game, right? 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:45.039 For him and for me. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.039 We never talk to each other. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.600 Now, if the game was tied, this feeling would not have been in me, right? 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.600 If the game was tied, he could have chanted every time he scored, it wouldn't have bothered me. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:56.960 It wouldn't bother me at all. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.600 He could have done that European soccer song all day long. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:01.919 If the game was tied, wouldn't have mattered. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.639 If we had just lost by a little bit, wouldn't have mattered. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:16.879 It's because we're losing and we're getting killed and still deep in me, there's something I'm okay to lose in this situation, but you better not shame me. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:18.480 Right? 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.600 That's where it changes. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:35.600 I may lose my business, I may lose girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, I may fail in this, I may fail in that, I may have a moral failure, I may fail all over the place, but you better not shame me. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.200 And we all know that feeling. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:41.519 So where is freedom from this? 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.399 Where is freedom from shame? 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.360 Well, Adam and Eve basically show us what not to do. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:48.639 They fail. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:53.120 And then how they react to their failure, they don't come clean, right? 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.679 They don't confess and repent before God. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.080 That would be the path forward to transformation, right? 00:14:58.240 --> 00:14:58.960 They don't do that. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:01.759 Instead, they show us what not to do. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:08.240 And basically, their little clothing activity, you know, a little making some clothes and putting them on. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:15.200 This is the beginning of escapism and performancism, which is whether it can be in the church or it can be out in the world, but this is the beginning of it. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:20.960 I will do something to make myself feel better about the shame that I feel. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.840 So at youth soccer game, I feel shame. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:24.720 You know what? 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:32.080 You know, in many other situations, if I'm not a pastor in the little town of Marietta, I might turn around and throw my chair at this guy, but I can't because I might lose my job. 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:35.360 So I'll stay seated, I'll hold it all in, hold it all in. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:40.639 But I'll do something to make myself feel better about the shame I feel. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:49.919 And so it's more hiding and more covering, which never leads to freedom in the life of the spirit, but only to bondage in the life of the flesh. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:55.120 Because hiding and covering never stops. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.960 There's no end to it. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.120 Now here's the good news. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.480 Point number three is the good news. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:02.480 This is what God's trying to get out of them. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:09.759 Confession and repentance to God for your sin are the paths to freedom. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:10.399 That's it. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:11.759 That's the path. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:14.559 Let's read verses eight through thirteen. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:22.559 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:26.159 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.840 And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:35.840 Because I was naked, and I hid myself. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.080 He said, Who told you that you were naked? 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:41.120 Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:47.519 The man said, The woman, whom you gave to me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate it. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.159 Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is it that you have done? 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.039 And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:56.320 So Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent, right? 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:57.519 The blame game. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.159 That's just covering, more covering, more hiding. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.639 And God said, Who told you? 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:03.279 Where are you? 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:03.919 Where are you? 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:04.720 Who told you? 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:06.000 What happened? 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.119 The whole time, God's just trying to get them to come clean. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:12.480 Come clean. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:13.440 Be honest. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:14.160 Confess. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:14.720 Repent. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:15.519 Live in the light. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:16.720 Live in the truth. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.720 That word repent, that's a good word. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:29.359 Like we don't need to give that over to the religious zealot at the football game with the megahorn and he's acting out of hatred. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.480 Repent is this good word for us. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:34.079 I need this word. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:36.640 You need this word. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:43.680 Because we need to stare the depth of our sin, that reality that we don't always think right. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.240 We don't always live right. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.200 We break what God asks of us. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.799 We hurt ourselves, we hurt people, we hurt our relationship with God. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:54.640 We need to stare all of that head on. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:55.359 You know why? 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:56.640 Because it's reality. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:57.519 It's true. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.759 That's why we have to stare at it. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:10.960 And we need to sorrowfully speak it back to God and ask for His Spirit in us to work in us that we might walk in truth. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:12.079 Right? 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:17.680 To walk in the path of the Spirit, not in the path of the flesh. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.400 This week we watched This Is Us. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:21.839 It's back on season, right? 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:22.559 Y'all watch it? 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.519 Grab a Kleenex box if you're watching it. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:34.400 This TV show, maybe you don't watch it, they have perfected the long monologue to emotional music, is what this is. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:39.359 There's about six of them every episode, and every time, just get a few tissues out. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:40.640 And I'm not going to ruin it. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.880 I won't ruin it, but I'm going to read one bit of dialogue. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.440 I won't ruin it just in case you're starting to get nervous right now. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:49.359 But there's a marriage that's struggling, a dad that's struggling. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:51.759 And he's staying at a friend's house. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.680 He's just confessed to his wife that he drinks too much. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.359 And she says, she says, I know everything about you. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.440 And he says, You don't know I'm drunk right now. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.279 I've been drunk all day. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:07.279 I've been drunk for weeks. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.559 And I thought I had it under control, like the first time. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:11.920 But I have a problem. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:14.720 And I've hidden it from you for a very long time. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:20.799 And I've hidden it from our kids, and I need to get a handle on it before I can walk back into that house. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.039 And the music is playing. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:26.240 And we're tearing up. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:27.920 Anybody? 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:29.279 Did anybody cry in that scene? 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:30.960 You just want to go ahead and confess right now? 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.880 Have a confession right now. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:34.960 Now, what is that? 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:39.359 What is all this emotion that you would feel during this show, during this moment? 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:48.880 Well, here is a man daring to stop living in the evil of hiding and covering and blaming. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.000 And he's choosing to live in the goodness of honesty and confession. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:56.000 Right? 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:57.519 He's in front of his wife. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.839 He's letting himself be known and seen. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:12.400 And life doesn't magically become perfect, but the bondage of untruth and shame is broken in a life of confession and repentance. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:17.200 Do you remember that in this Genesis story, God replaces those flimsy fig leaves, right? 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.680 That little thing that we're doing constantly of covering and hiding and all our different methods. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:26.960 God comes into what Adam and Eve, their method of doing this, and he provides better clothes. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:29.759 He provides clothes by animal skins. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:35.200 Like it's as if in the garden, God's thinking, I barely got any honesty out of these two, because he did. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:36.559 He barely got anything. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:53.920 And yet, in my love, I will sacrifice one of my beloved animals, which I created, I love, and I said they're good, and I'm gonna have to take one out for the first time to make some clothes for these two ragamuffins. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:56.480 And he does it. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:07.519 And it's a great gospel picture for us that God will make a sacrifice to cover us because the ways that we cover ourselves are insufficient. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.880 And this is what we've been saying the entire series. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:16.559 That in the very beginning, the Christ was there in Genesis 1. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:34.960 And if you know the story of the scriptures in the New Testament, the Christ is incarnated as Jesus the Christ, who lives, teaches, dies, resurrects, so that once and for all takes on our sin and our shame, covers us with his righteousness. 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.119 So we are freely secured. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:44.240 We are secured as his beloved, which gives us security enough to live a life of confession and repentance. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:52.640 And this is such good, relieving news for us because we will constantly hide and cover. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:22:02.960 And if we don't do it out in the world, we'll start to do it in some way in a church, unless Jesus is truly sufficient for us. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.319 So, my brothers and sisters, God seeks you in love. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.640 He seeks you in love. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:12.880 And he redeems you by his love. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:16.240 And in the very beginning, you were created by his love. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:17.359 Let's pray together. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:37.440 God, we we confess that in our reach for control and independence and all the ways it takes shape and escapism and performancism, pretending, hiding, covering, blaming, we only live all the more in darkness. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:49.680 And forgive us for our lack of faith and trust that you are enough and you are good, that you are good, that when you when you enter the garden to seek these two out, you are coming for their good. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:54.319 That you seek us for our good. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.400 And that your love has no stopping. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:03.359 Truly unconditional. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.279 Forgive us for the ways. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:10.079 Forgive us for the ways we try to save ourselves. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:11.519 Help us to see them. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:21.359 That we might confess and repent before you to live a life of confession and repentance, that our lives would be transformed in the spirit. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:22.720 For your glory. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:23.839 In Jesus' name. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:24.720 Amen.